


Eulogy

by KiraDood5



Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, i'm not crying you're crying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 07:17:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10406784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiraDood5/pseuds/KiraDood5
Summary: Everyone deals with grief some time in their life. This is one of those times. It's just so hard to say goodbye.





	

**Author's Note:**

> [wheezes] Okay so I haven't written a proper fanfiction in Ages, so this will probably be a bit dumb, but I would really really really appreciate any criticism or comment that you, the reader may have!  
> I hope you all suffer the same fate I have for caring about a character that never even actually shows up in the freakin' game outside of a missing person flyer

The people who cared didn't want to believe what they said. It was devastating to everyone who cared enough to put up the missing person posters across town. Even the kids who broke the news were in denial. But the bodies that the police found in the collapsed mines corroborated their claims.  
  
You could see the tears in Mae Borowski's eyes welling up when she told the Hartleys that Casey died in those mines that day.  
Greggory Lee was trying to hold back sobs of anguish while Angus Delaney simply looked down at his feet and gently rubbed the fox's back.  
Beatrice Santello couldn't help but to clench her fists and bite her lower lip.  
Even Jeremy Warton showed up just to comfort the others, knowing that a dear friend is gone for good.  
  
And Casey's parents wailed for their lost son, nearly cursing the heavens for taking away another child. Another one of their children. They only had each other now, and Casey's room would remain empty. Exactly how he left it when he disappeared.  
Some people mourned for Casey. Others felt pity for the family. A lot of people didn't know him well enough to care. But even the ones who didn't know anything about him admitted that the boy was taken far too soon. Murdered at 19 years old for the delusion of keeping a dying town alive. It was cruel and unusual, but that's what made it hurt more. He wasn't shot dead. He didn't get into a car accident. He didn't die of natural causes.  
Casey Hartley died for something worse than nothing. He was killed because people thought he offered nothing, would offer nothing, and will never offer anything to the world. And that made everyone that cared about him feel a storm of sadness and anger.  
  
He's gone.  
  
His body never could be found.  
  
Casey Hartley is stuck in those mines forever, along with God knows how many other people were tossed down there.  
  
And nobody would get to see him just one last time at the funeral held for him.

* * *

 

It should go without saying that funerals are depressing. Though the fact that there were only about a dozen people that went to Casey's funeral, counting his parents, just felt insulting to his memory. _Maybe they were right_ , thought Mae. But the cat shook that thought out of her head. No. Do not think shit like that about him.

Mr. and Mrs. Hartley cried as the clergy recited prayers and shared their belief that despite the consequence, Casey will be safe, watching over the people that he cared about, wherever he may be. Photos of the orange cat and his family throughout their lives were displayed. Holding his first skateboard. Playing the drums. On vacation. In the middle of that flood riding in his dad's boat. With his friends.

Smiling.

_Why did it have to be him?_   Gregg started to grind his teeth. _Why couldn't it have been--_  
Angus pulled his boyfriend close, whispering to him and trying to calm him down. You have to be strong for him.

A few more minutes passed, and Gregg stepped up to read the eulogy that he wrote, wiping the tears from his eyes with his paw. Deep breath. Deep breath.

* * *

 

_Casey and I were friends since... elementary school, really. I got held back a grade and landed myself with a desk next to him when we were in third grade._

Memories of the times he and his best friend had together started to surface, replaying vividly in the fox's mind as if everything only happened in the span of a single year.

_He was never the popular kid, but he didn't really get bullied that much either. He was just a normal kid. One of the nicest people I've ever met in my life._

Casey liked to have Gregg visit him. Playing video games, running around outside, getting into trouble. Just having innocent fun.

_Whenever he smiled, I smiled. Whenever he cried, I cried with him. Casey was just so... real. He cared about people. He cared so much, and he just wanted to be a nice guy to everyone._

As they got older, Gregg and Casey became a bit more mischievous. They shoplifted and threw toilet paper at people's houses. But they still had each other's backs through everything.

_People never really invited him to do things like go to birthday parties or play games. But Casey just kept his head up because he believed that everything would be okay. It was... He was just so brave._

More tears welled up. This just hurt. It felt like his heart was slowly burning and tearing itself apart. He remembered Casey's smile.

_He had the most genuine smile._

He remembered the first time they played music together.

_He was talented and smart._

He remembered the times when Casey did bad things just to help others.

_Casey did some... He wasn't perfect, but I know that he only did some of the things that he did just so he could make people happy._

_And he did._

Gregg sighed and cleared his sore throat.

_I heard a lot of people compare him to his brother when we were teenagers just because Casey was dealing with some bad stuff, but they just didn't know how much of a good person Casey was._

_He cared about others more than he cared about himself, so he got into a lot of trouble._

A lot of trouble. More times than Gregg ever has, arguably.

_But I know... I know that Casey just wanted to be the best person he could be._

His voice cracked up a bit. Pause.

_He and I really wanted to be in a band. We wanted to be famous and make people proud. Casey really wanted to just be someone that could make his family happy with whatever he did._

The fox looked up and gave a melancholy smile to Casey's parents.

_He loved. He loved a lot._

_He always wanted to just get out of town and start his own life. That was his dream._

There were a lot of times where Casey called Gregg, sometimes on the verge of tears because he felt so lonely and out of place.

_Casey was just such a good person. To me, to you. To us. All of us._

Gregg could barely hold back his tears.

_He may be gone... But..._

Deep breath. Deep breath.

_But I know that somewhere... Casey is here with us right now._

He couldn't take it anymore.

"A-A-And he's... He's happy that we're all here for him..." Gregg sobbed. "We love you, Casey. We love you...!"

* * *

 

_The sun looks so pretty, doesn't it?_

"Yeah. It does."

_..._

_Hey, Gregg?_

"What's up?"

_Can I tell you something?_

"Yeah man, what's up? Something wrong?"

_No, it's..._

_I'm just glad that we're friends. You, me, Mae, Bea, and Angus._

"And Germ?"

_Hahaha, and Germ, too._

"Well, good. But why are you telling me this?"

_..._

_I dunno._

_I guess I just wanted to tell you how much you guys mean to me._

_You never made fun of me, you always had my back._

_We're just... inseparable._

"Yeah?"

_...I don't want to lose that._

"What do you mean?"

_I... I wanna move out. I've decided. When I get enough money, I wanna move out of Possum Springs._

"Where would you wanna move?"

_I dunno... Bright Harbor, maybe?_

"Heh. Maybe me and Angus will move over there with you."

_Really?_

"Yeah, man. We could just run away and do whatever the hell we want."

"We can be free to just... hang out more. Have fun with life."

_...I'd really like that._

"...Hey, are you crying?"

_S-Sorry. I just..._

 

 

_I'm glad I met you. All of you._

_Thanks._

 


End file.
